Monday, October 29, 2012

A bat, a monster, & a turkey activity...all in a days work

We were quite the busy workers today!  We made a bat out of a toilet paper holder (yep, there really is a good reason you've been saving those things) to study our -at word family, we made a monster to remember that monster starts with M, and we kicked it in to high gear and made a Shape Turkey for the hallway!  Can you believe that we only have two days until Halloween and in the same week we will start Thanksgiving units!  Wow!  Did you also realize we only have three weeks until Thanksgiving Break??? Crazy!  This year is going too fast! 
 
Here are our "Bats"!

 
 
 


 

To make the bats you need to have your students paint the toilet paper holder black.  Then you will need to trace their hand prints, I connected the two hand prints and had them cut it out as one piece...this made gluing it to the back of the toilet paper roll easier.  Once the paint is dry I cut two slits on each side so that the beginning sound strip would slide through. 
 
 
We also made a tear art project.  We made an M is for Monster (is Frankenstein really a monster??I I wasn't sure...I must have asked Mrs. Paraprofessional this question a million times) and worked on spacing out the words in a sentence....

 
 
Be warned...these are so cute that you will get SO many compliments on this project!  People literally opened the door to the class to tell us how cute they were!  Ahh, that's gotta make ya feel good?!
 
We also made a turkey project to work on spacing out words...and so we'd have a project ready to go for Thursday...you know the lil' guys will be very tired after a full night of trick or treatin'!
 
I know, I know...rushing the holidays...shame on me!  But I love to be prepared!  Besides, I have so many more things planned that sneakin' one it early won't hurt, right??
 
 
Here is the shape turkey project...


 
I love how each used their little imaginations and made the turkeys slightly different...one facing straight ahead and one turned sideways!  I don't know about you...but I think those are some "shapely" turkeys!


 
As always, Kick Starting Kindergarten!
Brandy K.
 


Saturday, October 27, 2012

Trick or Treat...

Hi all!  Gettin' ready for the big night this week of trick or treatin'!  I love fall so much!  The weather gets cooler (yay! to our first real cool front!), pumpkin & apple scents are everywhere, and there are lots of treats to be eatin'!  So to celebrate the season I have posted a Halloween Math Games Freebie (to preview before you buy) in TpT Store!  Check it out!
 
And....Just look at this lil' cutie!

 
This was a gift from a teacher to a student I know...I just LOVE it!  What a great and inexpensive keepsake for the kiddos!  Now I gotta get busy making these for my students!  It looks really easy to make...She used the large yellow construction paper (two pieces its double sided) and then she just layered all the other pieces of the pencil. Before she assembled the two sides together she glued a new, white wire hanger in between!  AHH...so clever!  Won't they just love it???


Thursday, October 25, 2012

Peak a boo...

Well, since this is a blog about a kindergarten classroom I thought I'd give you a little lookie-lou into my classroom! 
 
Fall Sensory Box
This little sensory box basically was created through my student's imaginations. I intended for it to be free exploration to work on sensory development.  But those little imaginations went wild...they began sorting the  objects to the picture cards.  I also included the Talk Point Buttons that I told ya about previously.  Those litttle guys just started sorting everything...including the Talk Point Buttons (which say the name of the objects)!  Love it!

 

 
 
Patterning Station
 
In this station I create pattern strips to correlate with our thematic unit.  Since we are learning about nocturnal animals this is the one I created...they love it!  This is a freebie on my TpT store!
 
The two below are my pocket chart stations as well...they are literacy stations that are also integrated with our thematic unit!  This is part of the freebie on my TpT store! 
 
 

 


Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Just a spoonful of....

Today was a different kinda day to say the least...For the first time in my teaching career the most nightmarish thing that could ever happen to a kinder teacher happened to me...I over SLEPT!  And when I say I over slept...I mean I overslept! by an hour! ~for those of you wondering I did make it to work on time (luckily its DARE week and I got to wear a hat to work)! **wink, wink to the hat fairy**

Not to point fingers, but it might have something to do with my lil' man running fever and waking me from my slumber at 4 am!

When I got home the lil' man still had a high fever!  But he was ready for some computer time!  I think we may need an intervention at our house!  He is totally addicted to going online...thank you children's television.

Why is it that as an adult when you're sick you are in your bed--moaning, groaning, coughing, and feelin' like this might be the end...but when the little guys sick you'd never know other than the fever and the scratchy voice!  I mean, goodness couldn't you act a little tired!  (cause ya know mama and daddy are) ;o)  But the good news is we have lots of fluids and children's aspirin...so we might all get some sleep tonight! 

Here's to setting TWO alarms tonight!





Tuesday, October 23, 2012

These are a few of my favorite things....

Wow!  I'm new to bloggin'...and I'm LOVIN' it!  Since I have experienced so much "newness" this year I thought I'd share two of the best products to ever enter through my classroom doors...

My Franklin Discovery AnyBook Readers (click here to see it).  This has made the most improvement in my time management and allows my "voice" to be EVERYWHERE *side note* you will hear your own voice....ALL...Day...Long! But it allows me to make all the learners independent in their work, reading and just about anything else they want to do!  Y'all...this little pen has made a world of difference in my classroom.  The kiddos feel so proud because they don't need me to read to them or help them with unknown words...they feel so BIG!

My second favorite thing this year are my totally rockin' Talk Points (see here)!  I have been using these little guys for two years now...and boy oh boy...they are the most useful thing ever!  You can record songs that you make up to help kiddos learn their names or to put with clipart to remind them of instructions!  These little guys are AWESOME...in general ed or in special ed!  I just love 'em!  I now have 15 of them!  If you don't know what they are...look into them...they ROCK!

Remember to Keep Kickin' It In Kindergarten!
Brandy